You can learn how to be more confident by practicing these 5 simple things

Every person wants to be successful, every person wants to fulfil their ambition, and every person is strategizing how to go about it. However, there is one characteristic you need to be able to do this: confidence! Confidence is what helps you trust your own abilities.

That said, being confident isn’t all that easy. So many of us think we’re not good enough, so many of us don’t pursue things we want to because we think we’ll fail. Many people lack that courage that confident people have to build the life we want.

Wondering how to be confident? Well, you can learn confidence building by imbibing these few basic hacks that can turn your life around.

Here are 5 things you can do to slowly and steadily build confidence for a successful future:

1. Practice and prepare

Knowledge makes you naturally more confident as it reduces the scope of getting blindsided. It is only with regular practice and dedication to one single thing that you’re able to achieve the knowledge you need. From job interviews to your art, you need to prepare yourself through practice.

Regular practice will help you know more and feel more prepared. When you’re more prepared, you’ll naturally feel more confident.

2. Focus on small goals

You can use your journal or get yourself a daily/weekly planner to write small goals and see them through. It could range from being able to wake up 30 minutes earlier in the morning to incorporate a 30-minute evening walk in your daily routine. Ensure that your goals are achievable. Being able to tick them off your list will motivate you and act as an incentive to aim for the bigger goals in life. Eventually, you’ll feel more confident to pursue your dreams.

Also read: A vision board can help you achieve goals. Here’s how

3. Push away negative thoughts

There are so many times that we give in to our negative thought process and stop ourselves from doing what we really want to do. The truth is that negative thinking chips away at our confidence. This lack of confidence starts to reflect in our personal and professional spaces, conduct and choices. You see, negative thoughts are definitely common but you have to ensure you don’t act on them and push them away as soon as possible. This will go a long way in building confidence.

Also read: Here’s a 3-step guide to deal with negative self-talk once and for all

4. Don’t compare yourself to others

Ever felt envious after scrolling through your social media? It is so easy to feel like you’re not doing enough while people you know are living the exact life they want. But, comparing yourself to others won’t just make you waste time but also make you feel less confident.

A study published in Personality and Individual Differences noted that being jealous can result in an erosion of self-image. Everyone has their own journey and you don’t know someone’s whole life story. By thinking that you’re less capable or less equipped to follow your dreams, you’re only hurting your confidence. Concentrate only on yourself and trust your capability to build the life you want.

5. Forgive yourself

See, we all do things we’re not proud of and making mistakes actually contributes to our learning process. Then why is it that we find it so hard to practice some self-compassion? Understand that you will have to learn to forgive yourself in order to build confidence.

Acknowledge that you’re only human and that you will make mistakes and fall down once in a while. It is how you get back on track again that will be a true testament of your resilience. You will be able to be resilient only if you’re confident in yourself. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Personality notes that practising self-compassion can truly contribute to self-confidence.

Building confidence is a process that takes time but you need to make an effort towards your future!